“Oh believe me, I
care! You managed to ruin my career and take away my family all in
one day. Don’t think I haven’t been waiting for the
perfect time to properly thank you for that.”

“You ruined your
life all on your own, all I did was stop you from ruining your kids’
life.” Emily couldn’t believe that her former boss, the
former Mayor, had the audacity to threaten her like this. “You
don’t have anything on me anyway!”

He laughed. “You
don’t think so?”

“No, I don’t.”
She was downright pissed now.

“How about if
someone were to have leaked a story to the tabloids, complete with
pictures, that you’re a child beater?”

“You don’t
have any pictures!”

“You know, the nice
thing about technology today is that if you don’t have a
picture, you can just as easily create one. Photoshop. It’s a
wonderful thing, isn’t it?”

“Fuck you! Everyone
will know it’s fake.”

“Oh yeah? You think
your new boss will think the same thing? I’ve been checking up
on you, Emily. Little Baylee’s parents won’t want you
around him when I get done with you.”

“Go to hell.”
Emily said as she hung up on him.

“Fuck! That fucking
bastard, who the hell does he think he is?” Emily muttered as
she tried to figure out what to do next. His threats could be empty,
she knew him better than to assume that of him. She needed to get on
top of this and beat him at his own game, and she needed to do it
fast.

She took a deep breath
and picked up the phone again. She knew this would be hard, but she
needed to act immediately.

He didn’t answer
his phone. She left him a voice mail. “AJ, its Emily. Listen,
could you please call me as soon as you get this message? Thanks.”

She needed to tell AJ
first, since undoubtedly he would be dragged into the headlines with
her, what with the media thinking she was dating him. She paced
around her room, willing him to call her. It felt like hours, but it
had really only been minutes when he called her back.

“Emily, everything
ok?” she heard his voice, full of concern.

Emily took a deep breath.
“No, listen, I have to tell you something and you’re not
going to like it.”

“I’m
listening.” He said.

“I just got a phone
call from my old boss.”

“The mayor?”
he asked.

“Yeah, how did you
know?”

“Brian told me
about him and what you did to save his kids.”

“Well, he saw our
picture in that tabloid a month ago and is taking his opportunity to
pay me back for what I did.” Emily explained what he said his
plans were.

“AJ, I’m so
sorry. Look it might be nothing but knowing him, he’s serious
and I wanted to let you know because you’re going to be dragged
into this…..”

“Emily?” AJ
cut her off.

“Yeah?”

“It’s not
your fault. You did the right thing then, you’re doing the
right thing now. We’re not going to let this asshole get away
with anything, understand?”

“But AJ…”

“Emily, I promise.”

“AJ?” She
needed to clear one more thing up.

“Yeah?”

“It’s not
true.” She said, softly.

“I know it’s
not.”

“I need to call
Brian and tell him. The media will have a field day with the story of
him leaving his son with a child beater.”

“Let me talk to
him. He and I will sit down and figure out what to do.”

“AJ I really think
I should talk to him.”

“You will. We’ll
call you back soon, ok?”

“Ok. AJ?”

“Yeah?

“Thank you.”

“Emily?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re
welcome.”

AJ hung up the phone
feeling a huge desire to drive up to Ohio, find this guy, and punch
the living daylights out of him. But that, he knew, would definitely
make the tabloids. Instead, he got dressed and went off to find
Brian. When he didn’t find him in his room, he went down the
hall and checked Kevin’s room. Sure enough, that’s where
he found them.

“What’s up
AJ? You look pissed.” Kevin said as he let him in.

“Yeah, you’re
not here to punch me again, are you?” Brian joked.

“Brian, I need to
talk to you.”

“What’s up?”
Brian noticed how serious he was.

“I just got a phone
call from Emily.”

Brian’s face paled.
“Is it Baylee?”

“Oh God, no!
Baylee’s fine, shit! It’s nothing like that.”

Brian breathed a sigh of
relief. “Well what is it then?”

AJ explained to Brian and
Kevin what was going on.

“Who the hell does
this guy think he is?” Kevin asked.

“His name is Kent
White, a politician wanna-be.” Brian responded. “Shit. We
need to get on top of this right away. I’m going to go call the
PR guys and have their defenses ready to go. This guy wants a fight?
He’s got one.”

AJ watched Kevin’s
face when Brian left the room to make a few phone calls. He
recognized the skeptic look on Kevin’s face and knew what he
was thinking.

“Kevin, it’s
not true man.”

“Are you certain of
that?”

“Positive. I’ve
read the articles from his arrest. I suggest you do the same.”
AJ was feeling irritated at Kevin’s doubting Emily. She wasn’t
his girl, but he felt protective of her anyway.

Brian called the PR reps,
and then he called Leighanne and filled her in. Then it was time for
him to call Emily.

“Emily, its Brian.”

“Brian, listen, I’m
so sorry about this mess. I’ve been thinking, and I think it
would be better if I resigned. I’ll stay with Baylee until you
can make other arrangements if you want.”

“Emily, you didn’t
do it, right?”

“Of course not!”

“Then why are you
quitting?”

“Because your
reputation as a father and as a group is going to be dragged through
the mud and it’s all my fault.”

“Listen, Leighanne
and I don’t want you to quit. Don’t let this guy ruin
your life, that’s exactly what he wants to happen. I’ve
been on the phone and we’re fully prepared to handle this guy.
He won’t get away with it.”

“But I…”

“Emily, you’re
not quitting. End of discussion.”

“Ok.”

“Now, we don’t
know when or even if this will hit the media. We think if it does, it
will be very soon. Don’t answer the house phone, don’t
answer the door. Make sure Baylee doesn’t either. And you’re
going to have to stay home. You’re safe in the back yard, but
don’t go out front. If you have any problems at all, call me
right away. I’ll keep you posted on what’s happening.”

“Alright.”

“Emily, thank you.”

“Why are you
thanking me?”

“For letting us
know and for sticking to your guns.”

Chapter 20

Emily fell asleep at some
point during the night, dreaming of Kent kidnapping Baylee at the
airport. Her cell phone ringing was what pulled her out of her sleep.

“’Lo?”
she mumbled.

“Emily?”

“Huh?”

She heard a chuckle. “Are
you asleep?”

“Not anymore. Who
the hell is this?”

“It’s Brian.”

She was awake now.
“Oh…God, sorry Brian. You woke me up!”

“Sorry, listen I
just wanted to fill you in on our plan and make sure you were ok with
it.”

“What is it?”
She was thinking along the lines of legal action or something, but
that wasn’t what she got.

“We’re going
to beat him to the punch. An ‘anonymous’ source leaked
the story to the tabloids that the new Backstreet Nanny rescued
severely abused children from a local politician. And we didn’t
have to make up our own photos; we pulled them from all the newspaper
articles.”

“Why would you want
to leak that story?”

“Because, the first
story is almost always the one that gets believed. Then when his
story hits, it’ll seem like he’s just trying to cover his
ass.”

“And how do you
know your story will beat his?”

“Because we have
more money behind our story.” Brian replied. “But I want
to make sure you’re ok with hitting the papers again before I
give the final word.”

“Yeah, I’m
fine with it. I’d rather that than the story of me being an
abusive nanny!”

“Good. Listen, I’m
going to go call it in and tell them to go ahead.”

“Thank you Brian.
And again, I’m really sorry.”

“Kent White is the
one that’s going to be sorry. Hopefully he won’t mess
with you again, but if you hear from him, I want to know about it
right away, ok?”

“I will, I
promise.”

“AJ says to tell
you hi and that he’s going to call you in five minutes.”

“Tell him I say hi
back, and that I want to know why I’m not good enough to call
right now?”

Brian laughed as he
relayed the message to AJ.

“AJ said something
dirty in response and I’m not going to tell you. I’ll
talk to you later.”

“Bye.” Emily
felt better as she hung up with Brian. She really hoped that this
plan worked.

Five minutes later, her
phone rang.

“Hi, AJ.”

“Did Brian tell you
what I said?”

“No, he said it was
too dirty.”

“Do you want to
know?”

“No.”

“Ok, then I won’t
tell you! How are you?”

“I’m ok.
Tired, Brian woke me up.”

“Yeah, he’s
one of those freaky morning people.”

“It’s ok;
Baylee’s probably going to be up soon anyway.”

“Well, I just
wanted to check on you for myself and make sure you were holding up.”

“I’ll be
fine, I’m sure. Just a little weirded out by all this.”

“I know what you
mean. Keep your chin up.”

“Thanks, AJ.”

“Anytime. Gotta
run. Take care.”

“You too!”

Emily hung up the phone
and got dressed before she went to make some coffee and enjoy her few
minutes of peace before Baylee woke up. She spent most of the day
keeping herself occupied by playing with Baylee. They went swimming,
played in the sandbox, colored and watched more Veggie Tales. She had
turned all the phones off that morning, so she had no idea if anyone
had even tried to contact her. She was cleaning up the dinner mess
after Baylee went to sleep when her cell phone rang.

“Not at all!
Whatever you said to him after that last tantrum must have stuck in
his head.”

Brian laughed. “I’m
not surprised.”

“Why, what did you
tell him?”

“I told him that if
you told me he was a perfect little angel that he and I could have a
camp-out in the back yard when I got home and I’d even let him
stay up as long as he wanted.”

Emily laughed. “That
was all it took?”

“He doesn’t
ask for much yet. Luckily.”

“Does your wife
know about this?”

“No, and I think we
should keep it that way, don’t you?”

“Yes. So what’s
the situation with the tabloids?” Emily was dying to know.

“The story we gave
them ran today. It’ll be on the stands tomorrow. So far, it
looks like we beat him to the punch.”

Emily breathed a sigh of
relief. “I hope so. Listen, I think tomorrow I’m going to
call and have my cell number changed. I don’t want him to be
able to call me.”

“Ok, just let me
know what it is as soon as you find out.”

Chapter 21

First thing in the
morning, Emily got up and called her cell phone carrier and requested
her number be changed. She called Brian back and left him a message
with her new number and asked him to give it to Leighanne when he
talked to her. Baylee wouldn’t be awake for awhile, and
finally, she gave into the temptation. She went into the den and got
on Brian’s computer to look up the tabloids on the internet.

She wasn’t on the
cover, it was full of TomKat and Brangalina’s baby news, but
she was on the third page. She had to laugh as she read the story.

“Backstreet Nanny a
Hero” it read. She had to admit that for being a tabloid, the
story was incredibly accurate. It was complete with photos of Kent
White leaving the court house the day he was arraigned on charges of
child abuse and a picture of his kids being taken away with their
mother, escorted by police.

“This is perfect!”
she said as she read the story. “I’ll bet he’s at
home shitting his pants right now.”

And that he was.

“That fucking
bitch!” Kent yelled, slamming his fist down on the desk. He
dialed her cell number only to learn that she had changed it.

“If that little
cunt thinks this is the last she’s heard of me, she’s got
another thing coming!” He picked up his phone again, this time
dialing a different number.

“Yeah, Kent White
here. I’ve got a job for you.”

AJ got a kick out of the
tabloid article when Brian showed it to him.

“I’m going to
go give her a call and see if she’s seen it or not.” AJ
said.

“What’s going
on with you and Emily, AJ?” Brian asked.

“Nothing, why?”

“No reason really,
you just seem to want to call her an awful lot that’s all.”

“What’s wrong
with that?” AJ asked.

“Usually, when a
girl shoots you down, you forget about her and move on.”

“Emily’s my
friend, that’s all.” AJ said, looking away.

“If you say so.
Anyway, if you want to call her, here’s her new number. She had
it changed this morning.”

AJ took the number and
went into his room to call her.

Emily sounded very
distracted when she picked up.

“Hey…it’s
just AJ. Is this a bad time?”

“Yes. No. Sort of.”

“What’s up?”
he asked.

Emily sighed. “Baylee
woke up this morning feeling sick and he threw up all over the floor.
I’m trying to get it cleaned up right now, and I’m
waiting for his doctor to call back. He’s running a fever.”

AJ frowned. “You
want me to get Brian for you?”

“No, I’ll
give him a call when I hear back from the doctor.” Emily said.
“I have to go, Baylee’s calling for me.” And she
hung up.

AJ certainly didn’t
envy her right now that was for sure. He decided to take a little nap
while he still had time but he couldn’t sleep. He just kept
thinking of Emily. He didn’t know what it was about her. She
wasn’t his type at all really. Sure, she was beautiful and sexy
and blonde but she was more down to earth than most of the women he
dated. Maybe it was her maternal instincts he was picking up on. AJ
sighed and decided he wasn’t going to be able to sleep so he
got up and went to find Howie.

Emily was still trying to
clean the carpet when Baylee called for her.

“Miss. Emily, I
gotta throw up again!”

Emily raced back into his
room, helping him sit up and holding the trash can for him. I so
do not like puke! She thought to herself. She got Baylee a drink
of water and helped settle him back in his bed before finishing up
the carpets. Finally, the doctor called back.

“This is Dr. House.
You’re taking care of Baylee Littrell?”

“Yes, my name is
Emily.”

“What seems to be
the trouble?”

“He woke up feeling
sick, he’s vomited about four times now, and he’s running
a fever of 102.”

“It’s
probably just the stomach flu. Give him some Tylenol for the fever, a
cold rag on his forehead, and nothing but clear liquids until the
vomiting stops. If he isn’t better by tomorrow morning, or if
his symptoms worsen, bring him in.”

“Ok, thank you Dr.
House.”

Emily hung up and called
Leighanne. She figured Leighanne would probably be more familiar with
how to comfort Baylee.

“Hey Leighanne, its
Emily.”

“Oh hi! Is
everything ok?”

“Yeah, Baylee’s
just feeling a little sick and I wanted to let you know.”

“Did you call the
doctor?”

“I just hung up
with him. He said it was just the stomach flu.”

“Eww…sorry!
That’s certainly no fun to take care of. When he’s sick I
usually keep him in his room and bring him the small TV out of our
room and let him watch movies. It keeps him from getting bored.”

“Ok. I’ll get
him set up then. Would you like to talk to him?”

“If he’s up
to it, I’d love to.”

Emily handed the phone to
Baylee who said, “Mommy, I threw up on Miss. Emily!”

Emily smiled to herself
and counted the minuets until he fell asleep so she could take
another shower and feel clean again.